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Friday, June 7, 2013

Digital is becoming the new trend in comics. It's allowed so many more publishers and creators to get their works out to the ravenous reading public. Because of digital's format though, there's really not much room for a collection of the books. That doesn't mean it can't be done though, with Image Comics and Shadowline doing just that with Masks and Mobsters, written by Joshua Williamson and illustrated by Mike Henderson, Ryan Cody, Jason Copland and Justin Greenwood.

The book explores the secret stories of superheroes and mobsters vying for control of Golden City. Williamson imagines a world where, in the 1930s and ‘40s, superheroes and supervillains didn’t start appearing just in the pages of comic books but in flesh-and-blood life, confronting the underground powers that had maintained a fearful status quo.

"One of the things that always has stuck with me was... if all these superheroes started to pop up, how did that affect the mob's business?” said Williamson. “The masked men couldn't be paid off, and the supervillains didn't care about paying dues, right? How did organized crime deal with it all? I wanted to see that world from their perspective.”

The 128-page, black and white hardcover, will retail for $19.99 (ISBN 978-1-60706-765-8). It will be in stores on July 3 and can be pre-ordered from the May issue of Previews. Full press release below.

MASKS AND MOBSTERS was hailed as one of the best webcomics of the year when it was released by MonkeyBrain in 2012, and now the Image Comics imprint Shadowline is bringing it to print in style, with a deluxe hardcover edition that collects all seven issues. Written by Joshua Williamson (GHOSTED, DEAR DRACULA) and drawn by Mike Henderson, Ryan Cody, Jason Copland, and Justin Greenwood, MASKS AND MOBSTERS explores the secret stories of superheroes and mobsters vying for control of Golden City.

Writer Williamson imagines a world where, in the 1930s and ‘40s, superheroes and supervillains didn’t start appearing just in the pages of comic books but in flesh-and-blood life, confronting the underground powers that had maintained a fearful status quo.

"One of the things that always has stuck with me was... if all these superheroes started to pop up, how did that affect the mob's business?” said Williamson. “The masked men couldn't be paid off, and the supervillains didn't care about paying dues, right? How did organized crime deal with it all? I wanted to see that world from their perspective.”

Praise for MASKS AND MOBSTERS:

“Best digital series [of 2012]... an intriguing black-and-white tale about gangsters, snitches and the first caped do-gooders.”

– USA Today

"Smart work brilliantly presented. My favorite Monkeybrain series."

– Mark Waid

"MASKS & MOBSTERS is such a fantastic idea that I burn with jealousy I didn't think of it first. Fortunately, Joshua Williamson, Mike Henderson, and company are doing things with the notion that I never could have imagined possible. One of my absolute favorite comics currently being published."

– Chris Roberson

MASKS AND MOBSTERS is a 128-page, black and white hardcover, retailing for $19.99 (ISBN 978-1-60706-765-8). It will be in stores on July 3 and can be pre-ordered from the May issue of Previews.

ABOUT IMAGE COMICS

Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, Skybound and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.